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Thursday, December 12, 2013

"We cover up our obesity by making ourselves indispensable. If we make ourselves needed, then we wont be rejected. Right?"
But inspite of making herself indispensable, Bella is rejected! Her husband leaves her for her sister and now they are getting married in nine months time, leaving Bella to look after her two children and save and scrape every penny in order to make ends meet!As if all this is not enough, everyone seems just too happy and excited about the upcoming marriage urging her to attend and seem uncaring of her own feelings about all of this.So what is Bella supposed to do?Just sit back and watch her cheating husband and her back stabbing sister get married while her own world has crumbled?Or should she take revenge and do something about this situation?Bella is at crossroads and feels pressured and neglected by her family. So after much discussion and a heavy dose of inspiration and threats from her friends, Bella decides to lose weight and attend the wedding with a gorgeous man to take her revenge and prove that she is not the "fat cow" her husband had termed her and she most definitely has moved on with her life!As Bella's adventure starts, there are many happy, funny, sad, depressing moments in her life with heart breaks, encounters most embarrassing and men most gorgeous!I loved and totally enjoyed reading The Lighter Side of Large. The first thing that attracted me to pick up and read this book was the title and the cover both of which are pretty innovative and different. Then the author goes ahead and displays her creativity when she takes a boring and dull life of a fat woman and makes it highly adventurous and very interesting. The whole initiative of adding quotes from Bella's blog in the beginning of every chapter in the book was a completely new experience and very enjoyable. These witty quotes enhanced the appeal of the book."How wonderful to have a magic mirror which allows you to see what you want to see, so that even with bulges, rolls and size 22 trousers, you ARE the fairest of them all."- FROM BELLA'S BLOG"You wont accomplish anything through doubt, but you will succeed if you believe in yourself."- FROM BELLA'S BLOGKudos to the author! :)The characters are real like with no artificiality. I loved Bella's friends who are each as different from the other and yet they all complement each other as a group. Bella's father totally endeared himself to me. He is kind, understanding and although somewhat blinded in his love for his estranged step daughter, he totally understands and supports Bella. The chemistry between Jae and Bella is sensuous sometimes and easily shifts to friendship at the other. I completely hated Bella's grandmother who according to me just didn't care enough about her and is totally concerned about what others will say, always pestering and forcing Bella to attend the wedding with no sensitivity towards her grief and unhappiness.I could empathize with Bella who is fat and often ridiculed and laughed at by people. No one makes an effort to know the real her, even her husband throws her out of her own home because she has grown fat and he has fallen in love with her sister!"Why cant men see what a great person I am? Why cant they see past the fat to the real me?""I came to the realization that no one loves me and no one will ever love me. So what did I have to live for? More disastrous dates? More ill-conceived advice from well- meaning friends? Demands from family to make nice and not rock the boat? I think of Abe and Fi, my pride and joys, the cutest, most rambunctious and lovable children a woman could ever have. Will they miss me? Will they remember me in a few years after Tiresa becomes their stepmum and showers them with everything I cant afford?"I loved the book which I felt contains just the right mix of inspiration, example setting about how one can achieve anything if he tries enough and tells a story of a woman thrown at a disadvantage from all sides but who emerged as the winner when she decided to take control of her life. But I also felt that more should have happened to teach Bella's husband a lesson who is disloyal and takes advantage of people for his own gain. Other than this, The Lighter Side of Large is a sweet book which will make you laugh and also cry along with Bella as she stumbles and then again gets up to finally make for herself and her children a better life."When you let go and move on, you discover something amazing: there is so much more to life than what you previously thought."A must read book and highly recommended. I giveThe Lighter Side of Large a 4.5 out of 5. Cute and fun adventures of a fat woman as she "hits and trials" to get a perfect life!